


End

by Meeralith



Series: Meera's GW2 Ficlets [2]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, The Departing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 05:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14888099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meeralith/pseuds/Meeralith
Summary: Small snippet written about the Commander's temporary death in Path of Fire.





	End

“Balthazar!”  
There’s no fear in her voice as she calls out this name. Weapons are drawn, and she charges, only anger in her eyes.  
Where’s the rest of Dragon’s Watch? Has he hurt them before she got here?

“Expecting someone else?” the fallen god taunts her; soaring flames erupt around the spire’s top, cutting off her escape route.  
But Ruthiel hadn’t even considered escaping. Balthazar was here to finish what he’d started, and he wasn’t going to let her get away a second time. Running would only endanger those back on the ground.

He’s so full of himself, she notices. This is the hour of his triumph, and her demise.  
Images of the ruin his Forged had left flare up in Ruthiel’s mind, just like the fire around her. She hardly feels the heat, nor the pain of Balthazar’s attacks.  
He’s still taunting her, compelling her to cry out in pain, relishing in her suffering. Like a cat with its prey, he toys with her, throwing her around like a ragdoll, but keeps letting her recover.  
He wants her to fight, to struggle, to prolong her misery. She’s insulted him, defied him, crossed him. That can’t go unpunished.

Blood runs down her temples and she grits her teeth. She knows that she’s going to die here. Knuckles turn white, as she grips her staff tighter.  
No chance of survival, but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t hurt him, before her body fails her.

Not without a fight.

He’d be surprised, she thinks to herself, just how much I can endure before I break.

Nothing matters anymore, as her life is forfeit, but the Commander doesn’t fear death. She’s a soldier, a veteran, she’s killed entities that were thought to be unkillable.  
Her, the mortal, would not bow before any god, not even in the hour of her death.

Balthazar mocks her resolve, and from his next blow, she fails to recover from.  
She props herself up on her arms; they tremble, and give up under her weight. Suddenly, all the pain she’s been ignoring finally reaches her, washing over her like a tidal wave.  
Her vision blurs, but she still sees the flash of turquoise appearing before her.

“Aurene! No!” she manages to call out, finally with the despair that Balthazar wanted. 

No. She’s just a child. Please-…

The pain becomes irrelevant again, and she feels dread and shame, fear and defeat. This is what she counts as her defeat. Not her dying. no. Her failing to keep this monster from what she swore to protect.  
She feels tears burning in the corners of her eyes, as the world darkens around her.

Then, the Commander feels no more.


End file.
